A YOUNG mother-of-two was knocked unconscious, raped and strangled by her partner’s best friend, an inquest heard. John Wright posed a trusted chaperone when he offered to walk 25-year-old Janine Bowater safely home from her late shift as a barmaid at the King’s Head pub in Thatcham town centre. The last available CCTV footage showed them walking towards her home along the main A4. But she never arrived and, at 2.05am on December 12 last year, an emergency services operator took a chilling call from Wright, aged 32, of The Hollands, Thatcham. An inquest into her death heard today (Friday) that he said: “I’ve just killed someone in Thatcham. I murdered her. She’s dead – I couldn’t help it. It’s my best friend’s girlfriend…I strangled her. I don’t know why I did it. “It’s ****ing stupid. I know I’m going away for a long time. I know that. I’ve had a lot of alcohol in the last four days. I’ve lost my job. I won’t put up any fight against the officers, don’t worry about that.” But once arrested Wright cynically switched to “no comment” interviews. Police who answered the call found Miss Bowater’s battered body behind some wheelie bins…